But You Will Be
by replacement
Summary: I'll take care of it. RoxasNamine
1. she just sat there

_Namine just sits, drawing, as always. That's all she ever does. No one ever asks to see her pictures, until today._

"_Hey Namine_," Larxene sang cruelly.

"Yes?" Namine sighed. _This can't be good…_

"Can I see? Little girl."

"Why?"

"Why not?" Larxene retorted.

"Alright," She sighed again.

She turned to show her.

"It looks like a-" Larxene turned her head to the side."What is it?" She spat.

"It's Sora." Namine was on the verge of tears.

"Oh, it does kind of look like the brat with bed-head. But..." she continued, her lips curling into a smile. "It looks more like a 3-year-old's scribbling."

Now Namine did cry. Larxene laughed.

"What is it Namine?" Larxene smirked. "Can't handle the truth?"

* * *

"Namine?" Roxas asked. "You okay?"

"I-I- yeah." She replied shakily.

"You're not okay." Roxas said firmly.

"Y-yes I am." She protested.

"You're not." He repeated. He stood up. "But you will be, I promise."

"Roxas-" Namine whispered. But Roxas put a finger to his lips.

"I'll take care of it, 'kay?" And with that he turned to leave.

"Roxas,"

He turned back around to face her.

"_Thank you."_


	2. she didn't know what to expect

_Namine didn't know what to expect. Earlier Roxas had walked away from her promising that everything would be taken care of. She hadn't seen him since._

_What had he done? Would he get in trouble? If he did it would be all her fault. Namine didn't think she could handle that._

"Hey Namine," She recognized the soft voice before she even saw the cheerful face with its comforting smile. She couldn't help smiling back, because she knew it was all _for her._ "Are ya ready?"

"Ready for what?" she suddenly felt full of excitement. And she could see every one of Roxas's sparkling white teeth in dazzling detail.

"Your surprise." He replied laughing. "Duh."

Now she really couldn't hold it in. Someone had done something special,_ for her._

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

Roxas crossed his arms. "Well, if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now, would it?"

"Well when am I-?"

He grabbed her arm. "Right now."

She held on and they ran so fast she could hardly see where they were going. But she assumed Roxas knew.

"Roxas," she half-laughed, half-spoke. "Slow down."

"Nope." He said. "Not until we get there."

"But where is 'there'?"

"Here"

They turned the corner and Namine was almost blinded by the daylight. They were outside.

_Namine had spent almost all her existence inside and sunlight was not something she saw very often._

"Hope you like freedom, cuz that's all we're gonna get out here."

"Huh?" Namine looked around her and saw a busy square. They were no longer in The Land That Never Was, they must've teleported. They had been running so fast she hadn't noticed.

"Want some ice cream?"

She shook herself free of her thoughts. "Wha-? Uh, yeah."

"'Kay." Roxas walked over to the vendor. "Two please."

"For you and your girl?" the vendor gestured to Namine, standing some distance away. She turned and smiled at Roxas, she hadn't heard but Roxas still felt uneasy.

"Uh, no." he could feel himself blushing. He had never thought of Namine that way, had _she_?

"Sure Kid." Was the vendor's only reply.

Roxas walked quickly away, not wishing to make his embarrassment too apparent.

"Um, Roxas?" Namine looked at him strangely. "Why are you so red?"

"M-must be the heat." He stuttered.

"O-okay."

Roxas handed her an ice cream.

"Eat it fast." He warned. "Or it'll melt."

She nodded.

They stood in silence for a moment.

_It's too quiet…_ Roxas felt a need to break the ice.

"Hey! I know a place we can go!" he remembered.

* * *

_They sat on the clock tower._

Namine stared into the distance. "It's a nice view." She whispered.

"Yeah, it is." But Roxas wasn't looking at the town. _He was looking at Namine._

"Y'know I like this place, what's it called?" she turned her face to ask.

He looked away instantly. "Um, Twilight Town." He shrugged.

_The sun was starting to set. At least, it appeared that way._

_Roxas pleaded for the sun to stay up. This day can't end, he thought desperately. I don't want it to._

"Looks like we should be heading back." Namine sighed.

"Yeah, if you want to."

"Huh?"She was perplexed.

_"Nam, they hate us back there."_

"They don't hate you." Her eyes welled up.

"Nam?"

"Just me." She finished with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Oh, Nam, listen to me." He put an arm around her shoulders. "They just don't understand us, _we don't fit_."

"But they don't hate you. Axel-"

"Sure, yeah, that redhead says he's my friend, and he sorta is, but _he doesn't mean more than_ _our freedom_."

"Are you saying-?" her eyes were dry now.

"I'm saying that we leave. Escape._ Live_."

"But how can we?"

"I told you I'd take care of it." Roxas smiled nervously.

"You've got a plan?" Namine stared unblinkingly.

"Yeah."


	3. gone

_"Where are they?"_ Marluxia inquired.

"How should I know?" Larxene retorted.

"You were supposed to be watching her." Marluxia accused.

"I was on my break, how was I supposed to know she'd run off?" she excused herself.

"_You're supposed to be smarter than her_." He walked away in disgust.

"Now where is that little brat?" he muttered to himself.

* * *

"Roxas?" Namine whispered.

_The sun had been down for some time now, and they had to be extremely quiet. The town may have busy earlier, but now it was all but deserted._

"What is it Nam?" he was still using his pet name for her.

"You sure this'll work?"

"I can't be sure of anything, Nam."

"Then how do we-?"

"Just bear with me."

"But I-"

"Just trust me, 'kay? Just this once." Roxas looked straight into Namine's blue eyes, clear and bright.

_Her eyes burn with resolve, even though she's scared._

"Alright." She said firmly. She was steeling herself for what was to come.

_If they were caught…_she didn't want to think about it._ It's not what happened to her that mattered, it was what they would do to Roxas…_

_The teenage boy was just as unsure as his female companion- that's what he tried to think of her as, and only that- but he tried not to show it. He didn't want to show his fear; he was supposed to be strong for both of them._

_But he had to admit, what they were about to do wasn't exactly easy…_

_They would somehow escape the organization. They had to. He couldn't watch her be abused anymore._

_And life hadn't been a picnic for him either. He had often awoken to calls of "Hey shrimp!" and "Get up Blondie!" (And that was just from Axel.)_

* * *

Namine thought back to her own unremarkable existence.

_She had been neglected, then, when her powers were needed, used. She had, for that very short time, been important and special._

_As Marluxia himself had said:_

_"We need someone with your talents."_

_Back then they had been 'talents' now they were a curse. They made her hurt Sora. She tried to set things right. She repaired his memory. She needed Sora then, but now…_

"Namine? Um, you still with me?" Roxas asked.

"Wha-what?" Namine blushed.

"Not like _that_." Roxas teased. "I was just wondering what you were thinking about."

"Nothing." She replied.

"Oh really?" Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"Y-yeah."

"You're a bad liar." He grinned.

'B-but I-I really-"she stammered.

Roxas smiled wider. "It's okay. I didn't wanna know anyway."

"Too bad," Namine said playfully. "And I was just about to tell you."

"What?" Roxas blushed. Namine laughed. Roxas smiled and he laughed too.

_It felt good to just throw his head back and let himself cry out._

"Roxas," she coughed. "Roxas, quiet." She was still giggling herself.

"Right, right." He was suddenly serious. "Time to get serious. Time for phase one of my one-phase plan."

"Which would be?" she asked.

"Run. Fast. Far." he said simply.

_"That's it?"_

"Well whaddaya expect?"

"A little more I admit. At least from you." She looked down.

Roxas was a little taken by that. Namine wasn't smiling this time, she _meant it._

"Namine-"He put his arm around her shoulders. It was meant to be comforting, but she shrugged him off.

"Roxas," she raised her head so her eyes were level with his. "You said you had a plan. I thought you knew how we could escape. _Safely_." She added.

"Hey, I never said it would be easy." He snapped.Instantly he regretted it.

A tear slid down Namine's cheek. "Namine I-"

She held up her hand to stop him. "Roxas, I won't go with you."

"W-why not?" his voice trembled slightly.

"Because I-I just can't." she said quietly.

"But-"he gave up. "Fine. You can go back. I won't."

"Alright," Namine said softly. "Goodbye Roxas."

"'Bye." He smiled weakly. "We'll see each other again, right?"

Namine just smiled.

"Right?" he asked again.

* * *

_Namine sits drawing. That's all she ever does. No one ever asks to see her pictures._

"Namine, where's your little boyfriend?" Larxene taunts.

"Yes, where is Roxas?" Marluxia is just as curious.

"Gone." Namine replied simply.

"What do you mean _'gone'_?" Marluxia demanded.

"I mean gone." She said sweetly. "Never coming back."

"What? He can't just-"Marluxia stormed out with Larxene following.

Namine was left alone.

She thought of the teenage boy she had left the night before.

_Thinking only of the happy times, she smiled._


End file.
